Fate of the Lotus - Dragon Warrior
by Kimainy
Summary: Human AU – Life as a young Chinese man at the bottom of society is far from easy. Such is the situation of Ping Xinyi Po, before he is given the chance at everything he ever dreamt of. When selections for the new dragon warrior go dreadfully wrong, not everyone is happy with the new situation, least of all Yi Zhen, the woman they call Tigress.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

* * *

Snow fell from the sky, like white dancing stars and got caught in the woman's jet black hair. Her skin was pale and clammy, her breathing laboured as she ran, red flowers spreading on her silk gown. Blood took to the embroidery before the fabric itself, dying the blue threads scarlet.

"Lian," she mumbled to the toddler in her arms. "Don't cry, don't cry."

Shan An's own silent tears made her a hypocrite, as she stumbled in the snow, almost falling. There was a shack up ahead, one of those the farmers used for storage and the goal of her frantic flight. She could no longer hear her pursuers over the whistling of the snow storm, but she knew they were there.

She could only hope that her husband had gotten away.

Falling, she gasped, painfully struggling to her feet again. She just had to reach the shack- Lian began to cry, grabbing her hair with his tiny fists. The freezing cold had his cheeks red and bright. His pearly black eyes sparkling with tears, as he hiccupped and hissed.

Shan An thanked her ancestors that little Lian had always been a quiet crier. Staggering up to the shack, she pressed a hand against the rough wood, and forced open the door with her shoulder. The inside was dry and without the clawing wind, which made it slightly warmer than outside. Stacks and boxes of vegetables stood all around, the room too small to hide a grown person.

Shan An did not care.

"Let go," she whispered frantically to little Lian, freeing his fingers from her hair. "Let go my love, let go. Mother's gotta go. Gotta keep you safe." She sat the boy down on the floor, tearing the lid off a wooden box. The inside was half filled with radishes, but there was space enough for the one year old to huddle, so she placed him there. Lian puffed out his cheeks, angry and confused as he reached for her.

"Sush love, little Lian, I've got to go, but I'll be right back, okay?" Shan An told him and kissed him on the forehead. "Just lie down for mother and get some sleep. Everything will be okay."

As she laid the lid over the box, neither she, nor the child, knew that it was going to be the last time they saw each other.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**


	2. Chp 1 - Unbalanced Fates

**1.- Unbalanced Fates**

* * *

The procession moved through town at a slow pace, people milling about to get a good look at the people in the carriages and on the horses. It had been seven weeks since Grand Master Oogway and the Jade Court had been called to the City of Heaven to attend the great celebration for the Emperor's Mother's birthday. Now they returned to the Valley of Peace and the Jade Palace, and the villagers came to hear news and to catch glimpses of their heroes; the Furious Five. Master Shifu and Oogway were both hidden within their carriages, as was proper for people of their ranks.

A young man clumsily climbed over the wooden fence between one alley and another, and heavily hit the ground beyond it. From there he climbed wooden box after wooden box, and up onto the roof of the nearest building, huddling precariously against a carved rafter, finally able to see.

Ping Xinyi Po watched with wide eyes, drinking in the sight of the Jade Court, and his heart swelled. They looked so glorious, and so proud.

All dressed up in travel cloaks, Po could barely catch a glimpse of the Five's faces, but that did not mean he could not tell them apart. Master Mantis rode at the front, the smallest of the bunch, though he was the oldest. After him came Master Crane, tall and scholarly built, followed by Mistress Viper. Her thick black hair showed under her hood, the lotus flowers her handmaiden always braided in it blossoming above her ear. Master Monkey rode fourth, looking for the world to be asleep. His gourd and staff had been tied to his saddle horn- And that meant that the last of the five riders had to be Mistress Tigress. Where Mistress Viper rode side-saddle, Tigress rode like a man, a leg on both sides of the horse. She was dressed as a man as well, albeit the red silk of her shirt fell a bit longer than her knees, and the trousers underneath were perhaps a bit looser. There were no flowers in her hair, beneath the travel hat, and it fell in a long tight braid down her back.

Po watched them like the starving beggars watched his father's food stall.

They were everything he had ever dreamt of being, of becoming- Warriors. Heroes. Legends- People who stood up for what was right and who had the respect of the people around them. Somebody he could never be.

Leaning forward, he felt the tile beneath his shoes begin to slide, and he quickly moved back. It would not do to ruin another's roof, so he climbed back down the boxes with a disappointed sigh- He would have liked to continue watching until they were back behind the palace gates. But he knew his father would want him back soon. The procession would have thrummed up a near festival like feeling in town, and the noodle shop would be busy.

After all, was that not all Po was good at? Making, serving, and eating noodles, as his father would say. Cooking was in their blood, not kung fu.

The thought frustrated him, and he frowned but turned homewards regardless. These back streets and alleyways were the backgrounds of his childhood, and he knew them like the back of his hand. It did not take long for him to slide under a wooden fence, his tunic getting caught as he forced his wide shoulders through.

A cry quickly interrupted caught his attention as he turned another corner, something feminine about it. Frowning deeper, he moved towards the sound, trying to stay silent.

Behind the old weaver shop, one of the weaver girls were being held roughly against the wall, as a tattered man searched for her money pouch. The guy had his arm around her throat, a hand over her mouth, and spittle hanging from his chin.

"Just let me have the money, and I won't harm you," he told the girl, as she trashed, trying to elbow him.

Po froze for a second, unsure of what to do, before he stepped out into the alley. If he was lucky, being seen would be enough to scare the man away, and after all- Po _was_ large, even if a big part of it was fat, and that could be intimidating enough.

"Leave her al-" he started saying, only to step wrong and lose his balance, staggering out onto the scene.

The guy turned frantic eyes at Po, then narrowed them.

"Stay out of this," he warned in a hiss. "If you want to stay safe, stay out of this!"

Po caught his balance, holding his hands out so that he could be ready to move, and so that he seemed less of a threat. Not that he had made much of an impression to begin with.

"You don't want to do this," Po said, keeping his voice soft. "There's a better way to earn money-"

"There's no other way!" the man shouted, finally getting his fingers on the pouch and pushing the girl away from him. "You don't understand!"

The girl screamed, hiding her face in her arms as she was flung into the wall. Sliding down against it, she stared at Po.

"You can't let him take it! That's Mistress Lee's coin! She'll flog me for it!" she sobbed hysterically.

"Calm down!" Po told them, having taken the chance to get a few steps closer to them. But nobody was listening to him, as the mugger rushed straight towards him, slamming into Po's shoulder as he passed him. Po felt his own weight pull him slightly off balance, and he tried to turn in time to catch the man, but too late.

The guy was gone.

Po did not even attempt to catch up- He knew his own speed well enough to know it would be useless. Instead he lowered himself down, holding out a hand to help the crying girl to her feet. Her checker patterned dress had gotten dirty and she was fighting to catch her breath.

"Now now," Po tried consoling her. "I'm sure your Mistress might not be too harsh on you when she sees how battered you are."

The girl shook her head, before glaring angrily at him, red cheeked and terrified.

"You don't know Mistress Lee- How could you have let him get away? You're _bigger_ than he is!" she spat. "Why couldn't you just fight him!"

Before he got a chance to answer, she spun on her heel and fled back inside the weaver shop.

And Po was left standing there, aimlessly fisting and opening his hands, not knowing what the heck just happened. Again, that rumble of frustration made itself felt in his chest, but what could he do? He was too slow, and too uncoordinated to be any good as a fighter, as the days events had made perfectly clear.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**

* * *

Grand Master Oogway bend over, slowly lighting the candles in the Hall of Light one by one. The servants usually carried this task, but Oogway liked performing it himself when he had been away. It was a way to honour the Grand Masters before him, who were enshrined in this very hall. The mirror pond in the middle of the Palace Temple reflected the dance of the tiny golden flames in a way Oogway loved to watch.

The action of lighting the candles calmed him.

The celebration at the City of Heaven had been wonderful. The performances, the food, and the company had been grand, and the Emperor had been mild tempered. Oogway appreciated that, as it meant the Emperor's court was at peace, and not plagued by the political intrigues of the earlier decade.

Then again- the instigating party had been removed and imprisoned.

And there lay the core of Oogway's current worries.

He was old. His kung fu was growing weaker with his body, but his mind was clear, and so were his dreams. Dreams sent to him by the ancestors to warn him of troubles to come and things fates to be. Dreams that had always come true in the past.

Tai Lung would escape.

It was only a matter of time and coincidences falling into place, but it would happen, and Oogway would no longer be strong enough to stop him.

As for Shifu- He could not be sure Shifu had the heart, nor the strength of will to do it, or survive it if he did.

No.

The only thing Oogway could do was trust in the ancestors and look for the signs they had shown him. They would lead him to the person who would defeat Tai Lung, the one who would become the first Dragon Warrior in a thousand years.

_He shall be a warrior of black and white, heralded by the flames of the dragon, so shall you know the saviour of China._

Oogway lit yet another candle, taking his time. His eyes were dark and worried, and sad.

"And I shall not be the one to train him," he said softly to himself.

"What are you muttering to yourself about this time?"

Oogway turned to see Shifu watching him, as always looking severe and stern. Even at home like this, Master Shifu rarely relaxed if ever. And Oogway had not seen him smile in years. There was as much rock in that man's heart as there was granite flecks in his hair.

Oogway's expression softened at his old pupil and friend.

"Bad times are about to come," he told him. "It's in the air and in my dreams- Tai Lung won't allow himself to be trapped much longer."

Shifu stiffened.

"Tai Lung is in prison, under the sharpest guard. He cannot escape."

Oogway did not protest nor answer that, but simply watched Shifu.

"It isn't possible," Master Shifu repeated. "And even if it was, I'll write them tonight to make certain they tighten security further. Tai Lung won't be able to scratch his head unless permitted to."

Oogway's sad eyes stayed on him.

"One often meets his fate on the path he takes to avoid it," he said softly. "If Tai Lung escapes, I won't be able to stop him, Dan." Shifu frowned but did not interrupt. "I am too old. It is time I chose the successor to the Dragon Scroll, so I can rest in peace."

Shifu folded his arms behind his back, straightening up.

"I'll inform the five in the morning, and ready the ceremony for the choosing," he said, bowing. "I'd offer myself, but I fear my past mistakes makes my unsuited for the position."

Oogway nodded.

"If you please," was all he said on the matter.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**

* * *

Yen Zi did not relax until late into the night, when she curled up on her windowsill, one leg dangling down along the wall. Her other one was supported by her arms, as she leaned her cheek on her knee, and watched the moon.

Her hair, usually pulled back tight into her braid, hung loose and smooth around her face, allowing her scalp to relax.

The last few weeks had been gruelling. The Empress Dowager had insisted she dress as one of the court ladies, and she had had to borrow from Shesru's dresses. The moment they had left the Heavenly Palace, she had changed back into her own comfortable and practical garbs. She loathed nothing more than to be constricted by the layers and layers of expensive and strangling silk.

Trailing her fingers through her hair, she turned her gaze to Jade City, and a soft smile graced her face- It was a rare expression, but she felt good, being back home.

Tomorrow she and the others would be back in their daily routines, training under Shifu, devoting themselves to the art of kung fu. As it should be.

There would be order in her world, and nothing would disturb it.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**

* * *

Po woke up groggy, his head full of strange and disconcerting things. He dreamt he had been fighting, using kung fu as if he had been born to it, and had been about to lose against something just before he woke. Slowly he crawled out of his bed, dragging himself to put on his clothes, and wash his face.

"Po? Are you awake?" his father called from the shop below.

Po had not told him about yesterday's events. It would only worry him and after all, nothing too serious had come of it that Po knew. Hopefully the weaver girl's Mistress had been understanding.

"Yes, Da," Po called back, already pulling on his white apron over the black tunic that served as the shop's uniform. Like most days, his father would expect him to start work immediately, bringing in water from the town well, and then quickly cutting up vegetables for the soup stock. Every small chore was done with the ease of long-time practice, and despite the spring chill in the air, Po kept reasonably warm.

Old Man Ping, as most people called Po's father, was spry for his age. His face was covered in laughter lines and there was an always present air of worry about him, which made him hard to read at times. Po knew however that although his father _was_ a worry wart, he was also kind and of a happy nature.

Maybe that was how Po had gotten his even temper- It took a lot to shake the young man, in part because most of his childhood had been spent reassuring his father that things were fine, as they usually were.

"Cut up the carrots, would you?" Old Man Ping said when Po returned from having refilled the water cistern outside the shop. It was a new instalment from the year before, and if they kept it filled, pipes led the water directly inside the shop. It was a wonderous invention, to be sure.

Po nodded, giving a hum of agreement, already reaching for knife and vegetables. Cooking may not be in his dreams, but it was certainly in his blood, he thought as he did so. It was one of the few things he did seamlessly, almost artfully, as his father had drilled it into him from the time he was old enough to stand beside the counter and watch.

"Sleep well?" Ping continued, already stirring the noodle soup. It would stay on a low boil for the entire day, and then the vegetables, eggs, noodles and the like would be added to smaller portions of it as the customers ordered the different variations. But Ping always made the large batch before Po was even up, to keep secret the secret ingredient passed down in their family for generations. "Did you have any dreams?"

Po shrugged.

"I can't remember," he avoided the question, and his dad's eyes. His father did _not_ approve of Po fighting or doing anything more dangerous than chopping radishes- Po had never even told him of his dreams to practice kung fu, for he knew his father wished for him to take over the shop one day.

Ping scoffed softly, watching Po as he prepared different ingredients. Po glanced at him out the corner of his eye, once again noting the differences in their builds.

Old Man Ping had slender shoulders, albeit he carried a lot of weight around his gut. He was shorter than Po, with thinner bone structure and thinner hair. When Po was little, he had commented on it, and Ping had told him that he took after his mother.

Which just about summed up everything Po knew about his mother, for that matter. Ping never talked about her, never even mentioned any woman when he told Po of the times in the shop before Po, or of Po as a baby. Sometimes in the dark of night, Po wished that his mother had been a legendary warrior, or daughter of a warlord, and that he was destined to be something more than a noodle shop owner because of it- But he would never have wished any other father than Ping. Patient, caring, and prone to laughter were scolding should have been, Ping was all the father Po had ever needed.

So, Po would keep his dreams to himself and throw everything into taking care of the noodle shop. After all, even mighty heroes must eat, and there was honour in cooking as well as in fighting. But just once- Just once, Po wished to be a hero.

"You're quiet these days," Ping commented. "And of an age where you've no doubt started considering your future, I should think."

Po put aside the knife and turned to meet his father's gaze.

"Dad, I-" he began, not knowing where his father was heading with the conversation, but Old Man Ping held up a hand to silence him.

"I don't know if you've an interest in any young woman of the town, but Master Hei-Wan has a daughter about your age, and he suggested the match. She's a good cook, and a good worker, and as far as I can tell her temper's sweet and her heart kind," Ping told him. "I'm not young anymore, and you'll need somebody to help you run this place at one point."

Po blinked silently at his dad before shaking his head.

"Dad, I can't just marry a girl I don't know-" he protested. "And you're still the owner of the shop- I can't run it yet. You haven't even taught me the secret ingredient for the soup yet!"

"That's the other thing," Ping said. "I'd like to teach you soon, and let you take over the shop. I'll still help out, but I'd like for you to take a more active role in your own life, Po." He shook his head. "You never press me to learn anything anymore, and you seem to just drift through the days, doing nothing but eat, sleep and work. I worry for you."

Po bit the inside of his cheek, hands turning into fists once more as frustration rumbled through him.

"I'm okay Dad, you don't have to worry about me- Just- I'm not ready to marry. And I'm not ready to take over the shop," he said, hating the worried and slightly disappointed look on his father's face. "Can't we just wait before making any decisions?"

Ping was still frowning, but shrugged and sighed.

"You're too old for me to force you to tell me what's on your mind," he said. "But I wish you would tell me."

Po softened and reached out to his father with one hand, about to tell him that he just needed some time to adjust to the idea, when noise sounded from outside.

"What's that now?" Ping asked in annoyance. They had yet to open the shop's shutters to the small courtyard where the stall opened out to but did so now at the sound of commotion. Already a small group of people were gathered there, watching something on the wall. "Go check it out Po, and I'll keep on eye on the food."

Po moved deftly around the small tables to the gathering. There was excitement in the air, and people were chatting as if some celebration had been revealed, although a few also looked solemn.

"What's going on?" he asked, seeing that somebody had put up a poster. He recognised a few of the letters, but his reading had never been good, for lack of a better teacher than Ping.

"Grand Master Oogway is choosing his successor from among the Five," said Rue-Han, the pork bellied butcher. "There's to be a ceremony in three days, where he'll chose, and the Jade Palace is opening it up to the public."

Po's heart skipped a beat- Oogway was choosing a successor? From among the Five? And if the ceremony was open to the public, that meant Po would have the chance to see them all on close hand, and not just from some rooftop two hundred feet away!

"Master Rue-Han, do you think we could order extra beef and pork the day before?" Po asked him, and idea already forming in the back of his mind. "If there's to be a celebration, business should be good, and we could take the cart to the ceremony itself, to sell noodles there."

The butcher gave him an appreciative glance.

"That's not a bad idea," he said. "You have a good head for running the shop, lad. Old Man Ping must be proud."

Po did not answer, as guilt welled up in him. It had nothing to do with wanting to sell noodles, or what was best for the shop, and it had everything to do with wanting to see the Kung Fu Masters.

"I'll see that it's arranged," Rue-Han told him with a grin and a slap on the back.

Po nodded gratefully, before returning inside to inform his dad.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**

* * *

Huan-Huan stepped under the thick stone arch, trepidation gathering at the bottom of his stomach. He wished fiercely that he had not eaten that last meal, as sweat poured from him, in fear of the man he had come to see.

The metal clasps gathering his robe at the front, holding it closed, seemed to be strangling him and he fiddled nervously with them as he followed the Commander into the deep dark dungeon.

"And you're certain there's no way of escape?" he asked again.

Commander Chao nodded, annoyance clear in his expression.

"Master Shifu has no need to worry," he confirmed once again. "He's locked up at all times, the cell door is never opened, and there's no way for him to get his hands free. Even when we feed him, we have a guard doing it, rather than allowing him free rein of his limbs." The weathered guardsman shook his head, and Huan-Huan was surprised to see pity in his eyes. "It would be a better life, were he dead."

Huan-Huan felt himself relax a bit as they continued down the staircase and through yet another set of metal bars. Commander Chao always kept the keys on him, he had said when they reached the first of them a good twenty minutes ago. The dungeon was a maze, to make it harder still for people to escape it.

He shivered, the cold seeping into his bones and blood, and finally they reached the cell Chao had been taking him to.

Opening a thick wooden door, Tai Lung, one of the greatest evils to ever set foot in China, was revealed to him- And his shoulders slumped in disappointment at the sight.

Skin and bones and wiry muscles, the man manacled to the wall looked very pitiful indeed. He was blindfolded, both arms fastened to the wall with metal bands, the only thing keeping him on his feet. He was bare footed, dirty, and scruffy looking, with a long beard and hair a messy tangle down his back.

The stench in the room was heavy with rage and unwashed human. There was something almost animalistic in the air.

"See? He is firmly caught, and unable to escape."

Huan-Huan heard Commander Chao's words, but he did not react. Something about the prisoner pulled him forward to get a closer look.

A feral grin spread on Tai Lung's face, and his hoarse voice rasped in the deafening silence.

"Visitors, Chao? Am I to gather that even now, they're still so very afraid of me?"

Huan-Huan drew back, shivering, but Chao frowned in anger.

"Nobody fears you anymore, Tai Lung. Oogway defeated you, and he can do so again, so why should we?" He stepped forward, poking the trapped man harshly on his chest. "You'll die here in my prison, such is your fate."

Tai Lung laughed and Huan-Huan stepped forward to lay a hand on Commander Chao's arm.

"Let us go, I have seen what I came to see," he said. "Master Shifu will be satisfied."

At the sound of Shifu's name, Tai Lung's expression flashed to absolute fury, and before any of them could react, he lunged forward. The chains and manacles stopped him, but not before his teeth snapped together, mere millimetres from Huan-Huan's throat. With a startled shout, Huan-Huan fell back to land on his back, and Commander Chao had Tai Lung pinned against the stone wall, a hand around his neck.

"Stay put!" the Commander growled. "Or I'll have you starved for the next many days!"

Tai Lung moved his jaw back and forth, before cocking his head to one side, chuckling hoarsely.

"So Shifu still worried for me, if that it?" he said, his words muffled by the hand around his throat. "Tell him "Hello" from me, won't you?"

Huan-Huan got shakily to his feet, and stepped back away from Tai Lung, one hand drifting to his open collar.

"I won't tell him anything for you," he gasped. "I'll tell him you're here, rotting away, getting what you deserve."

Chao released his grip on Tai Lungs throat, and motioned for Huan-Huan to precceed him out the cell.

"As I said, he'll die here and nothing can prevent it."

But as Tai Lung's laughter followed them out the prison, Huan-Huan did not feel entirely certain that was true.

* * *

**.o.O.o.**


End file.
